Holly's Dad
by major.trouble.kelp
Summary: Holly had been having nightmares since the death of Root. Can someone help her? Not to mention there is a new crisis she gets caught up in and a shocking secret is discovered about her past. Between OD and TLC. HT rated T just for safety
1. Surprise Visitor

**Disclaimer: NOTCB2M. I only own the plot.**

_She saw her commander, and knew there was no hope. Opal Koboi's laugh echoed in her ears. She raised her Neutrino and aimed carefully, firing at the sweet spot that might or might not be there. An orange flame blossomed at Julius's chest. 'be well', he said, before the flames consumed him..._

Holly woke from her nightmare, covered in a cold sweat, throat sore, as if she had been screaming. She lay still for a while, pushing the memory out of her head. These nightmares had begun shortly after she had quit the LEP and were always about the same thing-- the death of her commander. Holly moaned and glanced at her clock. 5:23 PM. Holly rolled out of bed and stumbled into the shower. No use trying to get any more sleep tonight.

The hot water calmed her, chasing the last fading chills from the nightmare away. That was one thing about the lower elements: No shortage of hot water, and it was free.

Holly stepped out and wrapped a towel around herself. She didn't have to be at the P.I. office until 9:00. Plenty of time. Maybe, for once in her life, she'd be early instead of late. Fat chance, thought Holly. She was never even on time for anything. She was surprised she'd lasted as long in the LEP as she had, with Root reprimanding her for being late almost every day.

Some people said he never would have fired her. They said he thought of her as the daughter he never had, or rather, like the daughter he had but lost. Julius had been married once, and had a baby girl, but one day, his wife and child had disappeared. He was devastated, turning ot his job for comfort. Maybe Holly reminded him of his daughter. Maybe that was why he'd chosen her to be the first female in recon. That and her talent, of course.

Holly was startled out of her reverie by a sharp knock on her front door.

"Holly, open up. It's important!"

"D'arvit," Holly muttered, heading to the door. Who would be here at before 6:00 PM?

Her answer was this: Major Trouble Kelp.

"Holly, come on, you have to get down to police plaza. Its an emergency."

Holly rolled her eyes.

"Trouble, what exactly are you doing at my flat at 6:00? And I can't go anywhere like this, anyway."

Trouble turned bright red, seeing as Holly was wearing nothing but a towel.

"Sorry," he said, embarrassed. "Get dressed first. Meet me at the Ops Booth. I'll explain there."

He turned and left, leaving a wet and thoroughly confused Holly standing in her doorway.

**So, you likey? This is my first full-length fic. Tell me what you think!**


	2. A Long Discussion About Holly's Outfit

Holly quickly dressed, throwing on the first clothes she saw, which happened to be black academy sweatpants and a vivid yellow and orange tie-dye t-shirt emblazoned with the words "Eleven Wonders Theme Park" and below that, "Now I've Seen It All." Holly glanced in the mirror on her way out, running a comb through her short auburn hair. She groaned. She looked like a melting popsicle. (The shirt was three sizes too big, giving her the appearance of wilting.) Oh well. She'd looked worse. And it wasn't like anyone would care, right? It was six freaking PM, for Frond's sake.

Holly rushed to the Plaza, dodging around what traffic there was. There wasn't nearly as much as usual. Humans might be able to get up early every day, but few fairies in Haven get up before 8:00.

Nearing the building, she felt something weird about it. Foreboding, maybe? Or was it apprehension or nervousness? She'd never felt that about Police Plaza before. It only began when Sool had taken office. Sool. Holly felt a rush of strong hatred towards that ugliest of gnomes. He was the reason she'd had to quit. And he was in that building, right at that moment. Despite the "emergency" she knew nothing about, Holly was tempted to turn around and go right back home.

Her temptation didn't last long, however.

"Holly! You made it! Come, quickly before Sool sees. If he sees you you're dead. Hurry!"

"'Kay," Holly replied, following Trouble to the Ops Booth.

He suddenly turned around and looked at her.

"Holly, what in Frond's name are you wearing?"

Holly felt herself blush, something she did not usually do.

"I just grabbed the first clothes I saw," she muttered, slightly defensively. "You did tell me to hurry."

Trouble groaned.

"How are we supposed to hide you if Sool comes marching down the hallway? You don't exactly 'blend in,' now, do you?"

Holly rolled her eyes.

"Just get to the emergency, will you?"

Now it was Trouble's turn to look sheepish.

"Right, sorry. C'mon."

He pulled open the door of the Ops booth and followed Holly in. Of course, when Foaly saw Holly, the first thing out of his mouth was,

"What the d'arviting sam hill are you wearing? You look like a popsicle! Or a carrot... Hmm, that costume has possibilities for Halloween... Would you mind if I-"

"Yes, Foaly, I realize I am very brightly colored and could possibly look like food. And no, you can't borrow my shirt so you can be a carrot popsicle for Halloween."

"How did you know that was what I was going to ask?" Commented Foaly. "My mind reading proof hat must be broken! This is a disaster!"

Holly tried desperately to suppress a laugh. She heard Trouble laughing behind her. He sobered up first.

"Speaking of disasters, we need to fill Holly in."

"Right," said Foaly, as he unfolded a giant piece of tinfoil to make a new hat, "Take it away."


	3. The Crisis

"All right," began Trouble. "First of all, Foaly's satellites are unable to get readings on the region around Julianehåb in Greenland. It could be a system malfunction, but-"

"There are no system malfunctions in my system!" Interrupted Foaly.

"_But_," Trouble continued, "It's more likely that someone is trying to hide something. I almost hate to say it, since that centaur's head might explode if i do, but it really is unlikely that there's a malfunction in the satellite."

"See," gloated Foaly. "Even my viruses don't have viruses."

"Is that it?" asked Holly. It didn't seem like enough cause for concern to drag her all the way to Police Plaza this early.

"That's not even the beginning," replied Trouble. "Foaly's sources did pick up that a nuclear power company has decided to bury their waste somewhere in Europe. The site they are currently leaning towards happens to be Tara."

"You mean somewhere near Tara?" Holly asked. "That could be a problem."

"No," contradicted Trouble. "I mean, directly over E1."

"Oh!" said Holly. "That's worse than I thought. So they're burying radioactive waste over E1? Even if we shut down that chute, the waste will make its way into the ground and the water, causing-"

"...Birth defects, magic loss, sicknesses, death, heart conditions, and worse. Yeah, and not only that, but if they dig there, they'll find the chute, giving the mud men-"

"...A direct route to Haven," Holly finished. "This is a disaster."

"Awww....," Foaly broke in. "You two are finishing each other's sentences! How absolutely adorable. I knew it was coming! When's the big day?"

He was suddenly met by two pairs of glaring eyes aimed right at him.

"Shut up, Foaly!" Holly growled. She did not like jokes being made about her love life, although it didn't really exist. She hadn't had a boyfriend for ten years, and she certainly wasn't going out with Trouble anytime soon.

"What's the plan?" Holly asked Trouble, turning to face him.

"I've got permission from Sool to send team of fairies to the spot of interference. It's probable that the HQ for the power company is there. Sool's given me temporary control over whatever fairies I need. We're just going to get information now, so I'll send Recon out first, and then we'll need to either mesmerize the president of the corporation or something. It could turn out that someone else is behind it and that the president is just a puppet. So we'll see."

"Who are you sending?" Holly asked, curious.

"For Recon, I'm sending Marcel and Dogwood. Retrieval will be Vein, Verbal, and Birch. And you'll go, of course. That's why I needed you down here."

"But if Sool hears-"

"We'll deal with that later. But don't worry, Foaly will have you covered. We need you out there desperately. It's too bad you quit, the LEP's practically falling apart without you there."

"You know I can't work with that d'arviting, lousy, dumbfuck of a gnome Sool!" Holly burst out.

"I know," said Trouble. "I'm just saying, things were a lot better with you around."

He gave her a small smile to let her know he was serious. Holly sighed.

"So, Foaly, what do I get?" she said.

"Ah!" he exclaimed. "Come with me. You'll get a neutrino, of course, newest model, and a fully-equipped suit, no communication devices- Sool would know if you had those, ..."

Foaly led Holly into the equipment room and began outfitting her with everything she needed. Trouble headed off to brief the other officers going out with her. It was going to be a long week.


End file.
